Dental tool



Jan. 19, 1960 A. D. WISEMAN DENTAL TOOL Filed Jan. 7, 1958 INVENTOR. iADOLPH D. W/SEMAN zsyh WW4 ATTORNEYS United 2,921,373 Patented Jan. 19,1960 Fice DENTAL TOOL Adolph D. Wisernan, San Francisco, Qalif.

Application January 7, 1958, Serial No. 707,635

3 Claims. (Cl. 32-59) This invention relates to a dental tool and tosuch tool in combination with means for conditioning it for use, and hasfor one of its objects the provision of an economically made polishingtool that includes an abrasive readily replaceable element and means forreleasably securing such element to a conventional shank adapted, inturn, to be releasably secured in the chuck of a dentalhandpiece.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a dental tooladapted for releasable securement in the usual chuck of a conventionaldental handpiece, and which tool includes an abrasive polishing memberso constructed as to provide an improved and more accurate mounting inthe dental tool itself, than heretofore.

Heretofore the common practice in abrasive, polishing dental tools hasbeen to firmly and inseparably secure the body of abrasive or polishingmaterial to a base at one end of a shank, which base is integral withthe shank.

This body of abrasive may or may not be properly centered relative tothe shank, with the result that undesirable vibration will occur Wherethere is a slight misalignment of the body with the axis of the shank,the latter axis being the axis of rotation.

Also, heretofore, when the abrasive body is worn down to a certaindegree, the entire shank is discarded along with the remainder.

Also, it has been the practice to provide different polishing points ofdiiferent external contours for work in different places, although ineach instance the material is intended to be balanced about the axis ofrotation. This has necessitated the removal of one tool and its replacement by another similar one but with a slightly sharper point or pointthat is more blunt, etc, and in many instances the dentist has beencompelled to accept a point that is not entirely satisfactory, but thatmay come closest to his requirement. When the points have become wornout of shape they must be discarded.

With the present invention, means is provided for quickly reshaping thebody of abrasive to any desired shape, or to shape a plain cylindricalbody to any desired point.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in thedrawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a conventionaldental handpiece having the dental tool of this invention releasablyheld in its chuck.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged part sectional view of the dental tool of thisinvention, including the body of abrasive releasably held therein.

Fig. 3 is an exploded View of the dental tool of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the sharpening means for shaping orreshaping a point on the abrasive body of the dental tool, showing thesaid body in position.

Figs. 5, 6, 7 are fragmentary enlarged sectional views taken along lines55, 66 and 7-7 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of one point adapted to beshaped by the sharpener of Fig. 4, and Fig. 9 is a fragmentaryelevational view of another point adapted to be shaped by the samesharpener.

In detail, the dental handpiece 1 of Fig. -1 is conventional, having achuck release and tightener 2 at one end and the conventional chuck 3 atthe other end, the latter being connected in the usual way with thedental engine for effecting rotation thereof.

The dental tool of this invention is generally designated 4, andcomprises a conventional shank 5 adapted to be releasably secured in thechuck 3. This shank has a circular head 6 (Fig. 3) rigidly secured toone end thereof in coaxial alignment with the shank.

The outer periphery of head 6 is threaded for threadedly connecting withthe internal threads at one end of a sleeve-like collar 3 internallyformed with an annular shoulder 9 that faces axially thereof toward head6 for overlying the marginal axially outwardly facing surface of saidhead.

The portion of the collar 8 beyond the shoulder in direction away fromthe threaded end of the collar is of substantial length and hascylindrical inner walls, while the outer side of the collar at the endthereof remote from the threaded end is tapered toward the latter end asat 10.

A cylindrical, solid abrasive polishing body 11 is adapted to be held inthe tool. The body 11 illustrated herein is of rubber with the polishingabrasive inbedded therein and uniformly distributed throughout the body.

One end of body 11 is formed with a radially outwardly projecting flange12 that is adapted to be gripped between the marginal portion of thehead 6 and the shoulder 9 when the collar 8 is screwed onto the head 6,and the axially outwardly facing surface of the body 11 inwardly of saidflange is preferably depressed slightly as indicated in the dotted linein Fig. 2 so that there will be a positive seating of the flange againstthe head free from any possible irregularities in the surface of thehead or central end surface of the body 11. This has been found to bedesirable and to overcome any tendency for misalignment between the aXisof the body 1 and the shank 5 and resultant vibration of the body 11.

The cylindrical inner surface of the collar 8 forms a support for thebody 11 so that the portion of the body projecting from the collar willbe quite solidly supported by the collar and against the head 6.

The threads on the head 6 and collar are, of course, so directed thatthe collar will be tightly held against the flange 12 during rotation ofthe dental tool in a direction for polishing by the body 1.

The cylindrical outer sides of the exposed portion of body 11 areadapted to be used for polishing, whether or not the outer end of thebody is shaped to a blunt or sharp point. However, in order to shape thebody 1 as desired, an abrasive stone 15 (Fig. 4) is provided, whichstone has a groove 16 formed in one of its faces. The sides of groove 16extend convergently from one of their ends at one side of the stone tothe other side of said stone, and the bottom of the groove extendsslantingly upwardly, as seen in Fig. 4, from said one side to the otherside. The bottom of the groove is rounded as seen in Figs. 5 at its wideend, and 6 and approaches a V-shape at a point about midway between theends of the groove. The remaining bottom of the groove may besubstantially of V-shape, as seen in Fig. 7 and the sides of the groovemay also have different degrees of convergence, downwardly toward thebottom at different points therealong.

To shape the outer end of body 11, the said body, while held in thedental tool and with the latter in the handpiece is inserted into thegroove in stone 15 and is rotated, and the degree of inclinationrelative to the length of the groove, and the position of the body 11 inthe groove, will determine the shape of the outer end of body Ill.

For example, the relatively blunt point of Fig. 6 will be formed at thedeeper end of the groove, with the body 11 held more or lessperpendicular to the groove, while the sharper point of Fig. 9 will beformed with the body 11 more in the position seen in Fig. 4. Any degreeof sharpness or bluntness may be procured very quickly.

It is to be understood that the detailed description and drawings arenot to be considered restrictive of the invention, but merelyillustrative of a preferred form thereof.

I claim:

l A dental tool adapted to be releasably secured in the chuck of adental handpiece for rotation of such tool comprising: a rigid elongatedshank adapted to be held in such chuck, having an axially facing annularsurface directed away from said shank a circular head coaxial with saidshank rigidly secured to one end of said shank, a cylindrical polishingmember having an annular flange rigid and coaxial therewith projectingradially of said member at one end of the latter, said flange being ofsubstantially the same diameter as said head and means releasablyconnected with said head releasably securing said flange against saidaxially facing annular surface of said head coaxial with the latter.

2. A dental tool adapted to be releasably secured in the chuck of adental handpiece for rotation of such tool comprising: a rigid elongatedshank adapted to be held in such chuck, a circular head coaxial withsaid shank rigidly secured to one end of said shank, a cylindricalpolishing member having an annular flange rigid and coaxial therewithprojecting radially of said member at one end of the latter, said flangebeing of substantially the same diameter as said head and meansreleasably connected with said head releasably securing said flangeagainst said head coaxial with the latter, said member including saidflange being solid and of abrasive material,

the end surface of said member within said flange being depressedwhereby said annular flange will seat against said head with thedepressed portion being substantially free 'rorn engagement with saidhead.

3. A dental tool adapted to be releasably secured in the chuck of adental handpiece for rotation of such tool comprising: a rigid elongatedshank adapted to be held in such chuck, a circular head coaxial withsaid shan" rigidly secured to one end of said shank, a cylindricalpolishing member having an annular flange rigid and coaxial therewithprojecting radially of said member at one end of the latter, said flangebeing of substantially the same diameter as said head and meansreleasably connected with said head releasably securing said flangeagainst said head coaxial with the latter, said member including saidflange being solid and of abrasive material, the end surface of saidbody within said flange being depressed whereby said annular flange willseat against said head with the depressed portion being substantiallyfree from engagement with said head, said means for ecuring said flangeagainst said head being a sleeve-like collar threadedly connected withsaid head at one end thereof and through which said cylindrical memberextends, and an axially facing shoulder in said collar in tightengagement with the side of said flange that faces away from said head,said sleeve-like member including cylindrical walls in relatively closeengagement with the outer sides of said member spaced from said head forsupporting said member coaxial with said head References Cited in thefile of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 540,530 France Apr. 19, 1922

